Railway-joint



(No Model.)

J. KELLOW.

RAILWAY JOINT.

PatentedFeb. 2, 1886.

llllllllllllllllllllllllll -Z7 f eze 'D e Imulnllxlllilllllll ele (Bf Unire STATES ATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH KELLOlV, OF PEN ARGYL, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY-JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 335,458, dated February 2, 1886.

Application filed August 10, 1885.

To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH KnLLow, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pen Argyl, in the county of Northampton and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usct'ul Improvement in Railway-Joints, of which the following is a specication, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention has relation to improvements in railway-joints; 4and the novelty consists in the construction, combination, arrangement, and adaptation of the various parts forservice, substantially as hereinafter fully set forth, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

My invention has, primarily, for its object to reduce and cheapen the cost of an effective rail-j oint, and to combine simplicity, strength, and durability of construction and efficiency of operation; to permit of the expansion and contraction of the rails during hot and cold weather; to provide a bearing for the carwheels at the joints at Iall seasons ot' the year#- in hot weather, when the rails are expanded, andincold Weather, when they are contracted and to provide a rm and secure connection between the rails and tish-plates.

In the drawings hereto annexed, Figure lis a plan view of a railway-joint embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is an elevation taken from side of the device. Fig. 3 is across-section on the line x :v of Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a detail view of one of the fish-plates. Fig. 5 is a detail of one of the securing-nuts, and Fig. 6 is a view of the iishplate cross-bolt. Fig. 7 is a section on line y y of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, in which like letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures, A A designate the rails, which are of the ordinary construction at present in use, and at the point where their ends meet they are cut away in an oblique line, or beveled, as at b, for a purpose presently described, said rails having an elongated slot, b b', cut through their webs for the passage of the securing-bolts B B.

C C designate the fish-plates, arranged one on each side of the rail, and both constructed substantially alike. Each fish-plate comprises a vertical plate or portion, c, adapted to fit between the head and foot of the rai1,against the face of the web, and over the joint or line Serial No. 174,011. (No model.)

where the two rails meet, as is obvious. At or near its middle, and .on each side of the line where the two rails meet, said vertical portion is provided with an aperture or opeuing, c', for the passage ofthe shank of the bolt B, said aperture c registering with the opening or slot b in the rail. The horizontal portion ot' the fish-plate is made tapering or wedge-shaped from a point near itsouter edge to the point where it joins the vertical por tion of the fish-plate, as at d el, the latter portion of said plate being provided with plane straight faces, as shown. From the ou ter edge of the horizontal portion of the plate to the point where the wedge-shape portion d d 1 thereofl begins said plate is provided with nearly a straight face, which lies on the plane of the bottom edge orsurface of the foot of the rail and against the upper surface of the sleep er, to which it is secured by means of spikes driven through openings or notches c2 0"', formed at the outer edge ot' the horizontal' portion ol' the fish-plate, near thc ends thereof, as clearly shown.

The heads bZ of thc bolts B B are enlarged, as at b, and when in position the enlarged heads tit or bear against the upper surface of the horizontal portion ot' the fish-plate, and are thus prevented from turning. The bolts are held in place by the nuts D D, which are provided with a squared portion, c, over which a wrench or other implement fits to tighten the same, and a circular or disk-shaped portion or ring, e', having its periphery notched or serrated, as at c", the squared and circular portions e e being made in one piece and having a screw-threaded aperture 0r opening formed therein, which fits over the threaded on the upper face of the tishplate at the angle formed by the vertical and horizontal portions thereof, and is of a length a little greater than the distance between the two bolts and the nuts, the serrated or notched ends thereof being arranged beneath the nuts D,

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a disk-shaped serrated portion, j'.

rails, as is common with rails having squared as clearly shown. The bar is held in position l by means of a plate, F, wedge shaped, asv shown, and having its inner end bearing on said bar and its under side resting on the fishplate. Asimilar plate, F', is arranged on the opposite side of the rail and resting on the fish-plate thereof. Each plate F F is secured in position by means of a bolt, G, passing through said plates and the fish-plates, and a cross bar or plate, I, the said plate I extending transversely across beneath the rails and their sh-plates, from side to side of the latter. The heads of the bolts G bear against the under or lower face of the bar'I, while the upper ends thereof receive nuts J, Which are similar in construction to the nuts D D-that is to say, it has a squared portion, j, and Each of the plates F F carries a pawl, f2, preferably made of spring metal and secured in a notch formed in one end thereof and adapted to engage one of the serrations in the nut J, to prevent the same from turning and becoming displaced. If desired,the pawl may be pivoted to the plate and have a spring to bear against the same to hold it in engagement with the nut J, as is obvious.

The function of the cross-plate I, the securing-bolts G, and the nuts J and pawlsf2 is to secure the angular fish-plates to `the rails, while permitting the expansion and contraction thereof and connecting them, said shplates being spiked to the sleeper or ties and bolted to the rails to hold them together by the through-bolts B.

From the foregoing it will be observed that the rails are free to expand and contract Without danger of breakage to the various parts, and that the beveled ends of the rails always provide a bearing for the wheels of the cars, the inner beveled end or side of one of the same being in alignment with the outer beveled side of its fellow rail at the greatest contraction of the rails which takes place in cold weather, and thus provides the bearing for the Wheels, leaving no open space between the ends.

The construction of the several parts is eX- extremely simple, thus securing a great reduction in the cost of maintaining railroads, and providing a rail-joint which is strong and durable and efficient in operation.

Other means than that Vshown for holding the locking-bar E in place can be provided Without departing from the principle or sacricing the advantages of my invention. A washer may be provided, or one end of the bar E may be upturned, as at e4, to bear against the nut and prevent the same and the bar from moving.

I am awarethat heretofore it has been proposed to provide arailway-rail joint with two beveled meeting ends, to provide a continuous bearing-surface for the wheels of a car,- and hence I do not claim such a construction, broadly; but in my improved rail-joint I provide for the expansion and contraction of the rails, and also hold the locking-nuts from displacement by the same devices.

I am aware that it is not new to provide the bolts of a nut-lock mechanism with serrated nuts and a bar to engage said nuts and having bent spring-arms to engage the serrations thereof; but in this device no means is provided for the expansion and contraction of the rails.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The combination, with the rails having their meeting edges beveled or cut away in an oblique line and the Webs slotted longitudinally, ofangular fish-plates, through-bolts having serrated nuts, a bar, E, having its ends serrated to engage the nuts, clamping-plates vbearing on the fish-plates and the bar E, and

securing-bolts G, to clamp said plates to the fish-plates, substantially as described.

2. The combination of the longitudinallyslotted rails having their meeting ends beveled in an oblique line, angular fish-plates fitted over said rails and bearing against the foot and Web thereof, through-bolts securing said -rails and fish-plates together and having serrated nuts, a bar, E, having its ends serrated and arranged below the nuts to engage the serrations thereof, aplate or bar, I, clamping-bolts F F, bearing on the fish-plates and bar E, and carrying pawlsf?, securing-bolts G, to clamp the plate I, the fish-plates, and clamping-platestogether, and serrated nuts J, fitted on the bolts G and adapted to engage the pawlsfz, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the longitudinallyslotted rails having their meeting ends beveled in an oblique line, angular'fish-plates bearing against the Web and foot of the rails and secured to the ties at their outer ends, throughbolts passing through the rails and the upper angle of the fish-plates and having serrated nuts, and a bar, E, having its ends serrated and arranged on one of the sh-plates beneath the serrated nuts to engage the latter, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aiiixed my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH KELLOW.

Witnesses:

JAMEs J. Corn, W. C. Loos.

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